Fabric for floor-covering and the like



T. ISOZAKI.

FABRIC F0 R FLOOR COVERING AND THE LlKE. APPLICATION HLED MAR. 7, I916. RENEWED JAN. 24. 1920.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

TAKASABURO ISOZAKI, OF OKAYAMA, JAPAN.

FABRIC FOR FLOOR-COVERING AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. at, 1921.

Application filed March 7,1916, Serial No. 82,741. Renewed January 24, 1920. Serial No. 353,811.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TAKASABURO ISOZAKI, citizen of Japan, residing atNo. 36 Amase, Okayama, Japan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fabrics for Floor-Covering andthe like and. I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which. it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to fabrics suitable for floor covering and the like; and it relates particularly to matting and carpet woven in part at least from grass, straw, etc, of the general type known in Japan as Heiwa-Shiki, or Pacific grass carpet. The fabric embraced in the present invention differs from'fabrics of this general type heretofore known in the special manner of weaving and treating to be hereinafter morefully set forth.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a fabric in which the warp threads, instead of appearing on the surface as is usual in the case of ordinary textile fabric, remain behind or below the weft cords or strands and are protected by the latter against wear, the resultant fabric being furthermore characterized by great clas ticity which further contributes to the attainment of the superior wearing quality of the fabric. Generally described, the invention in its best embodiment comprises relatively fine warp threads of any suitable material with which are interwoven relatively coarse strands or cords of spun, twisted or bundled fibrous material, particularly straw, grass, or the like, which for convenience may be generically termed stranded fibrous vegetable material, the expression stranded being here employed in a broad sense. In weaving the fabric, the warp threads are stretched rigidly on the loom in a straight line, while the weft strands are made to undulate up and down in passing over and under the warp threads; and this same relative arrangement of the warp and weft components is maintained and preserved in the resultant finished fabric.

Further details of the invention can be more readily explained in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows in plan a piece of grass carpet or matting made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken parallel. to the weft; and

Fi 3 is asection taken parallel to warp,

Referring to the drawings, the relatively fine warp threads A, composed for example of cotton, hemp, flax, or any other material suitable for the purpose, are substantially rectilinear, as shown; while the relatively thick'or coarse weft threads B, composed for example of straw. reed,or the inner bark of trees, twisted or bundled into cords, are in terwoven with the warp threads, as shown, passing alternatively over and under the latter in the manner clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. In a desirable embodiment of the invention, the weft-cords or strands, or the materials from which they are twisted or bundled, may be treated with caustic soda or other alkalis to improve their appearance and physical characteristics, and notably to enhance their elasticity. After being woven in this manner, the fabric is then most desirably combed, this treatment when properly carried out, not only giving the weft threads a pleasing velvet-like appearance, and an agreeable feeling to the touch, but also serving. to spread the thick weft threads to a certain extent and to cover the thinner warp threads with the wool-like product of combing, thus tending to further protect the warp threads from wear and injury. The carpet or matting may then be printed in any desired design.

atting or carpet woven as above de scribed possesses greatly increased elasticity and durability, due primarily to the stated relation between the respective sizes of the warp and weft strands as well as their resultant tension and contraction. Furthermore, fabric thus produced prints much better by reason of its surface being homogeneous in character, due to suppressing or sinking the rectilinear warp threads well below the actual surface of the fabric.

It will be understood, that in the broader aspect of the invention, the order in which the operations of treating with alkali, combing, weaving, and printing occur in the manufacture of the novel fabric is not fixed or invariable but may be altered as may be found desirable or convenient in practice.

The specific mode of procedure hereinbefore described is therefore to be understood only as illustrating one particular advantageous way in which the novel fabric can be produced.

"What I claim is 1. Fabric suitable for floor covering and the like, comprising the combination, with relatively fine and substantially rectilinear Warp threads, of relatively coarse weft strands or cords consisting of stranded fibrous vegetable material undulatingly interwoven with the warp threads and combed, whereby the warp threads are kept well below the rearing surface of the fabric and are protected by the weft strands.

2. Fabric suitable for floor covering and the like, comprising the combination, with relatively fine and-substantially rectilinear warp threads, of relatively coarse weft strands or cords consisting of stranded fibrous vegetable material undulatingly interwoven with the warp threads, said weft strands or cords having been treated with a caustic alkali and also finely combed, whereby the warp threads are maintained well below the wearing surface of the fabric and are protected by the treated and combed weft strands.

3. Fabric suitable for floor covering and the like, comprising the combination, with relatively fine and substantially rectilinear warp threads, of relatively coarse alkaliundulatingly interwoven with the warp threads and combed, whereby the warp threads are kept well below the wearing surface of the fabric and are protected by the weft strands.

5. Fabric suitable for floor covering and the like, comprising the combination, with relatively fine and substantially rectilinear warp threads, of relatively coarse weft strands or cords consisting of stranded fibrous vegetable material undulatingly interwoven with the warp threads, said weft strands or cords having been finely combed, and the surface thus provided being printed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

S. MATSUDA. 

